Acne Studios AW14

Acne Studios AW14

Acne Studios AW14

Carven AW14

Carven AW14

Carven AW14

Dior Homme AW14

Dior Homme AW14

Dior Homme AW14

Raf Simons x Sterling Ruby AW14

Raf Simons x Sterling Ruby AW14

Raf Simons x Sterling Ruby AW14

Saint Laurent AW14

Saint Laurent AW14

Saint Laurent AW14

Ahead of the performance couture brings, the French capital offers up first looks from Saint Laurent, Dior Homme and the like.

Proportion was the overwhelming message from Acne Studios AW14 menswear line, and huge proportions at that. Wide leg trousers made their debut appearance last season, however here Jonny Johansson had doubled their size and played up jackets too; massive furry shoes received the same treatment.

As goes with Swedish design, each piece oozed quality, from the thick silk bombers to the wool ankle swingers, and despite Stop Making Sense era David Byrne like qualities, much of it was completely wearable in a day to day capacity.

The man who would wear the beanie and denim jacket of Carven’s Autumn Winter look 3, would be hard pressed to don the beige socks and blue leather sandals of Spring Summer’s 3rd look, one would imagine. But then change is inevitable, and this darker side echoed that first glimpsed at in Carven’s SS14 womenswear collection.

Earlier, the aforementioned suits were dressed up in spots, pinstripes and mash ups of several prints. Outerwear and briefcases completed many looks, providing an ‘en route to the office’ vibe, of which the whole collection fell prey to in the best possible way; coolest office in town anyone?

It was announced last month – to much intrigue and speculation – that Raf Simons AW14 would be Raf Simons x Sterling Ruby. Not so much a collaboration by way of inspiration, but a collection designed and presented by the two men, with Ruby and Simons both on the label.

The resulting collection was formed of several components and colourways, with black the overriding shade. Look 29 for instance, offered no black other than a square patch on a shirt, its placement even more significant than if the colour had been left off completely.

At first glance, Saint Laurent AW14 was SS14 with a scarf thrown in for good measure. The crotch tight trousers, thin boys and rock n roll spirit remained, but this time around the shine had lifted somewhat.

Jackets were looser, the sparkle swapped for tweed and thin soled leather Winklepickers were replaced by sturdier suede Creepers; this was the morning after, and with the loose tie of the scarves and blacked out sunnies, you could imagine the models as musicians, creeping out of hotels and moving on to the next city.